Letter-facing tray.



M. S. FIELD.

Patented Feb. 9, 1909.

natu es; scorch; nterest-sates.

asses-sem sters.

MAI? anus SL- Firth,

and state or following 11" like arts;

object of th'e inveiition is to provide a novel device which willgreatly facilitate theopstation of facin iuail.

cor'nphshe'd either by 'ca'iifcjeling machines or by hand, it iscustomary to face the mail,

that is t6 arrange "the letters and other mail matter with the stampsideall oneway. This racing hf'the than is how done-entirel by hand, theemployee using one hand to support theogrowing stack of raced hiail;

the other hand to pick the'individual letters and properly facet cm" byplacing theniia the st cker pile of faced man. ,The

11% GfofiehandtG 's' ppfiffi the faced letters ease leaves the em loyeeonly one hand with which to work upon the mas of un- It is obviousthatif a proper faced matter. tray @ohde'vice' were" devised for thepurpose ofholding the fa ed mail, and receiving the ruaili'as it isfaced; the employee would have both hands free with which to sort andwork upon the unfaced mail; and could face a quantity of mailvery muchquicker than if he had'ohly one handwith which to pick upthe'letters'andtaoe them; It'is also a well knownract among poshofli eemployees that mail can be faced off from the edge of a table very muchquicker than on a horizon.- tal surface bec ause in'the former casethose unfaced letters which happen to beright side up can nerely'be slidofl'rrom the table and do not have to be picked up and turned over,while where thefa ing is done on a horizontal surface each i dividualletter has t6 b picked 7 It is the object of this invention to pro=-tide a's itable device intowhich the letters can-"berated and which-wiilproperly hold steeifiehtioifoi iiotteisf atent.

residing at an Improve-h Whioh the w ction vwith the accompanyingdrawings,- is a spocifiea' t'ion, like letterson the drawings representn 7 g x in whichrnyinvention may be embodied. I 0 Th'sifiiientldiirltifstfiti device which-I have termed letterfacing tray;and the Patented Feb. 9, 1909.

the stack-of faced letters, thus leaving both hands oiz' theope'ratorfree to work upon the unfac'ed'mail. v

n I Another object of the invention is to provide a devieeot thischaracter which can be atta hed to theedgel of a table so that theletters can befaced oit from the edge of the table into the device.

I'hav shown in the drawings some forms Figfif 1 is'a perspective View ofone form t of a device attached to the edge of a table;

Fig.- 2 is avertical section through the table and fa ing tray,- shownin Fig. 1.; Fi s. 3 r W p I t and l; are side views of different formsof N 0nd or the firstoperations'which is performed uponmail matter afterit r aches in the post-office is generally the cancellation" ofthestainpstheron, but before this is ac my invention; and Fig.5 is aperspective of a another modification or the invention.

The device may be made so as to be permanently attached to the table ormay be "constructed entirely independent from the table; merely held inplaceby the operator. InFigs. 1, 2, and '3 I have shown it aspermanently secured to the table, so arranged that itcan he slid underthe table when it is not in use; while "Fig. 4: shows it as fixedlysecured to. the table, and Fig. 5 shows a device which is entirelyindependent from the table In 'the forms of the invention herein h-own et omprises a facing block over which'the mail is-fa'ced means to sustainthe bottom edges of the letters, and an end rest for the-endot the stackof faced mail supported inthe tray, The rest and the racing block aremovable relative to each other, so thatthey oanbe separated from eachother thefacedn iail accumulates in the device. In Fig 1, 3 designates asuitable table having a' pile l of unfaced mail thereon. At theedge ofthe table is a facing block 5, and projecting from said block are aplurality of rods 65 011 which rest the bottom edges of the faced mall7. Other rods 8 also project from the facing block, said rods beingsituated slightly-above the rods 6, and constituting the "sides of thetray between which thelettors are received, as best shown in Fig. 1. Theouter end of the rods 8 vand 6 are secured to asuitable head 9 whichserves to hold the rods properly positioned.

10 designates an end rest for the stack 7 of faced maihthespace betweenthe end rest and the facing block constituting that into t which' themailfis placed as it is faced. .The

facing block and the end rest have a relative movement toward and fromeach other, and in the preferred form of my invention 1 make theend-rest movable with relation to the facing block. As a simple andeffective way of thus movably supportingtie end rest I have secured tothe lower edge of the same ordinary screw-eyes 11 through which the rods6 pass. Said eyes are secured to the end-rest near its inner edge 12,and thus raise said edge slightly from the rod 6, the weight of the saidendrest bringing the other edge 13 against said rod, so that the restnormally stands in the inclined position shown.

The facing block 5 has the beveled edge 14 to facilitate the sliding ofthe mail off from the table into the space between said block andendrest 10.

In the operation of the device the rest 10 is first moved into closeproximity to the facing block, and the operation of facing the mail isbegun, the operator having both hands free for picking up the lettersand facing them. or sliding them from off the table over the rounded orbeveled edge of the facing block into the space between said block andthe end-rest 10. As the faced mail accumulates the end-rest slides alongthe rods 6, the friction between the ed e 13 and said rods preventingsaid rest from moving too rapidly. hen the tray is full and the rest 10has been moved clear out to the head 9, the stack of faced mail can beremoved from the tray and canceled either by a cancellation m chine orby hand, and upon returning the rest to its initial position the tray isready for use again.

In the form of the invention shown in Figs. 1 and 2 the facing block 5is made rigid with the table, and if desired may be made a part of thetable. The tray is also constructed to he slid under the table when notin use, and for this purpose the rods 6 and 8 pass loosely through thefacing block and are secured at their inner ends to a head or cross-bar16. The tray is held in its extended position by any suitable means suchas a pivoted catch or dog 17. By swinging the catch out of the way ofthe head 16, the end 9, and the rods 6 and 8 may be slid through thefacing block into the dotted line position, see Fig. 2, the facing blockbeing provided with the slots 18 to accommodate the rods 6.

In Fig. 3 the facing block instead of having the beveled or rounded edge14 is provided with the roll 20, which may be either positively drivenor free to move. The ob ject of the roll is to facilitate the movementof the letters off from the table into the tray or receptacle. In otherrespects the device shown in Fig. 3 is the same as that shown in Figs. 1and 2.

In Fig. at the facing block is shown as separate from the table butrigidly secured thereto, and the rods (3 and 8 are rigidly secured atone end to the end or head 9 and at the other end rigidly secured to thefacing block 5. Said block 5 provided with the beveled edge 1 is rigidlysecured to the table 3 in any suitable way as by the angle bracket 24.

in Fig. 5 the device is shown in which the rods 6 and 8 are rigid withthe head 5) and facing block 5 respectively, as in l ig. l, but saidblock is entirely detached from the table. This device can be eitherfastened to the table as shown in Fig. 4 or merely held in place betweenthe edge of the table and the body of the employee or operator, by theoperator leaning slightly against the head 9.

It has been my aim to provide an eliicient device for facing mail whichshall be extremely simple and inexpensive to manufacture, and hence Ihave adopted the form shown. My invention is not limited to this preciseform nor to the way in which the rest 10 is mounted, as it is onlyessential that the device have a facing bloclt of some description, anend rest, and means to support the faced letters between the block andrest said block and rest having a movement relative to each other.

it will be obvious that many changes may be made in the form andproportion of the various parts without departing from the spirit of theinvention expressed in the appended claims.

Having fully described my invention, what i claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is l. A tray or holder for use in facing mailcomprising a facing-block having a beveled edge over which letters canbe faced, an endrest for the stack of faced letters, one of said partsbeing movable relative to the other, and means to support the stack offaced letters between said parts.

2. A tray or holder for use in facing letters comprising a bottom tosupport the bottom edge of the faced letters, a facing block rigid withthe bottom at one end thereof, and an end-rest movable toward and fromthe facing block.

3. A tray for facing letters having 1 bottom to sustain the letters onedge, guides between which the stack of faced letters is received, afacing block at one end of said tray, and an end rest for the stack,said rest having a frictional sliding engagement; with the bottom.

t. In a device for facing mail, a facing bloclr means to hold saidblot-t against the edge of a table, means to support the mail beingfaced, and a sliding end-rest for the stack of faced letters, movabletoward and from the facing block.

5. In a tray for facing mail. a facing block adapted to be supported atthe edge of a table, rods projecting from said block and forming thebottom of the tray and having 10 forming the bottom and side of thetray, and frictional engagement therewith. an end-rest slidably mountedon certain of In testimony whereof, I have signed my said rods. name tothis specification, in the presence of 6. In a tray for facing mail, afacing two subscribing Witnesses. block adapted to be supported at theedge of MARCELLUS S. FIELD. a table, rods projecting from said block andWitnesses: forming the bottom and side of the tray, and a LoUIs C.SMITH, an end-rest slidably mounted on the rods GEO. W. GREGORY.

